


A Friend

by Snowleopardferret



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Any route/any romance implied in the background, Byleth's gender intentionally left ambiguous, Gen, Implied happy endings and soft stuff and kids, secret santa fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:15:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22054654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snowleopardferret/pseuds/Snowleopardferret
Summary: A series of vignettes following the evolving role Sothis plays in Byleth's life.
Relationships: My Unit | Byleth/Sothis
Comments: 1
Kudos: 50





	A Friend

**Author's Note:**

> Secret Santa fill for twitter user @rockboi4u hosted by @Fe3hHub.
> 
> I had a lot of fun with this one, lads!

Byleth is four, the child of a wandering mercenary, and as far as they are aware they’re the only child in the universe. No one in their right mind brings their kids with them when tending the sort of business that makes you interact with a merc. Jeralt is protective of his little one, still looking over his shoulder for the church of Seiros, still unsure whether or not Rhea will pursue them. Byleth’s world is small and sheltered and quiet.

Byleth does have a friend, though.

A mischievous little thing, a baby wyvern with an extra pair of legs, glistening white and playful with an almost human laugh. Her presence was nigh constant - it was something of a game, how she would dart in and out throughout the day, always just barely evading Jeralt’s notice.

The first genuine laugh Jeralt ever hears out of their child comes as the drake scrambles through a carriage window just behind his head. He turns around just as the tip of her tail vanishes - the source of Byleth’s amusement remains a mystery to him for the rest of his life.

\---

Byleth is nine, and the villagers are always afraid of them. The whispers follow behind their back, that their eyes are dead and lifeless. Suspicion is leveled on Jeralt at every turn that he has brought unspeakable harm to his offspring. The first emotion Byleth is able to identify in their heart, to give a name and speak about? It’s anger. Anger on behalf of their father. Whenever they can, Byleth retreats to the wilderness to avoid the humans. Avoiding the urge to start a fight.

Byleth still has a friend, though.

A strange wild child who lives in the wilderness, who runs barefoot and climbs trees like she’s flying. A girl who knows the woods as if she’d planted every tree herself. Her laugh is feral, and she knows no fear. She’s free.

She shows Byleth the hidden things. Forgotten streams and wild animals and rare flowers, beautiful vistas either undiscovered or long forgotten by mankind. She shows Byleth the vast world that exists far outside of the influence of petty humanity. Here, more than anywhere else, Byleth learns how to breathe through their anger. To let it go and simply be centered and present.

\---

Byleth is fifteen, and they’ve learned how to fight like their father. They swing a sword like it’s second nature, and practice is fun - but they shake the first time they experience real combat. It’s frightening and wild in a way they’d never encountered before - a true bone deep fear, one born of wagering your own life.

The first time Byleth takes a life sets an invisible marker in their life. The moment they became responsible for another human’s last breath? Their friend no longer appears in the physical world.

But no matter the horrors they see in daylight, their dreams remain peaceful. While others might find themselves tormented by memories played on repeat, Byleth still found the girl in the wilderness.

\---

Byleth is nineteen, and they are the Ashen Demon. They fight with an unrelenting focus, staining the land red with blood every time they take the field. Their swordplay is unparalleled. They know no fear in the heat of battle - their head level and their decisions sound. To all the world, they look more like a living statue than a human being. Their eyes dead and lifeless, their speech flat and monotone.

They dream of a girl sleeping on an ancient stone throne, and cannot quite recall why she seems so familiar.

\---

Byleth is twenty-one, and their world has been turned upside down. They’d spent their entire life all but alone, and now they are surrounded by a sea of strange young adults. Their heart had been so quiet before, but now Byleth is struggling to name each new emotion as they happened.

She has a name now - Sothis. Each and every morning she sends them off into the world with words of encouragement. She sits in the back of their head, providing snarky commentary throughout the day - and at night, she helps them decompress and process.

The pair are in step with each other - bewildered and delighted by their new world, curious and recklessly brave. They share a perspective, priorities, living space, memory… it is like having an invisible sister everywhere they go.

The pair of them weave freely through the river of time, taking as many tries as necessary to get things right. Messy perfectionists, the both of them. Simultaneously unafraid of admitting their mistakes and unwilling to let those mistakes stand. Private jokes begin to form, morbid yet lighthearted remarks about which of these children seem the most determined to injure themselves.

Byleth had never felt so alive, and Sothis is thriving in harmony with them.

\---

Byleth is twenty-two, and they are now one with Sothis. Their world is so much quieter now, and in the back of their mind they question this. Should they feel a sense of loss, no longer hearing her voice at every turn? Or should they find comfort in being so firmly bonded with their oldest and best friend? It is strange to wander the river of time alone.

\---

Byleth is still twenty-two, and this should have been the end of the line. Their body crumpled and destroyed by the opening notes of a war they should have seen coming.

In the ruins of Gareg Mach, Sothis sits with them. It’s quiet and empty here - a good environment for the long slow healing process, but terribly lonely.

There was still a quiet hope between them - but the dawn was far away.

\---

Byleth is thirty, and the world is healing. Sothis has been silent for years, but they know deep in their heart that their dear sister would be proud of what the world was becoming. It was hard work, a struggle at times and far, far too slow.

But Byleth had their spouse at their side now. They’d won an impossible war together - the future seemed much less daunting now.

\---

Byleth is thirty-five, and their children are absolutely feral, lawless creatures - as children have every right to be. Their work is never done, but it gets easier every year. They’ve gained weight and lost muscle definition, getting soft with a well-earned domestic life.

Every once in a while, Byleth swears they catch a glimpse of a white drake’s tail vanishing around the corner. Every once in a while, Byleth hears a familiar laugh among the laughter of their children.

All is well, for their children have a friend.


End file.
